Fired up Cards offense sweeps Eagles

Apr. 19—LINESVILLE — The Cochranton volleyball team (4-0 in region, 5-2 overall) defeated Conneaut (2-4 overall, 1-2 in region) 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-10) on Thursday night in a Region 1 matchup. In a game that was much closer than the score indicated, Cochranton found a groove on offense after a close first set to take them to a sweep.

The Cochranton offense started out strong to begin the first, but fizzled out as the set went along. Both teams struggled with serves in the first, slowing the game down. Conneaut took that chance to get some points back before Cochranton found a few more points to close it out.

"I thought we played pretty well," said Cochranton head coach Rob Cierniakoski. "We knew this was a big match and that everytime we play Conneaut they were going to come out swinging."

In the second set, Cochranton took over on offense, finding kill after kill after kill.

"Offensively I thought we were really clicking tonight," said Cierniakoski. "My guys were locked in for the game and I thought we did a really good job tonight."

The Cardinals offense was led by Noah Cummings and Brady Rynd. Cummings led the team with 15 kills, with Brady right behind him with ten. Dawson Carroll contributed on offense as well, tallying 33 assists.

Cochranton ran its offense with quickness and efficiency. Conneaut made some strong plays on defense, but just weren't able to keep up with the Cardinals' attack.

"We do play in waves," said Conneaut assistant coach Jennifer Klink. "We're trying to get the boys to be more consistent, and that's what we've been working on in practice."

The Eagles stayed with Cochranton as much as they could. Some great plays on defense allowed Conneaut to keep the game close for the majority of the time. But once Cochranton's offense really came online, Conneaut had a hard time finding answers.

"We were a little flat," said Klink. "But we're coming along. We tried some new things on defense tonight and so we're continuing to make adjustments."

The Eagles offense was led by Tristan Shelatz and Charlie Woods. Shelatz and Woods tied for the team lead in kills with five. Alex O'Grady led the team in assists with seven.

Conneaut will look to get back on track against McDowell on Tuesday at home at 7 p.m. Cochranton will look to keep their offense going against Farrell at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Trevor Teubner can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at trevor@meadvilletribune.com.